Games can be a very efficient learning tool in education, fostering factual knowledge, specific skills and broader competences such as collaboration, creativity and problem solving.

Education is probably the domain, in which the use of serious games is most common.

We have seen a wide array of different games from the relatively simple training games, typically math or spelling, to much more complex universes. All build on the basic notion that games are, at their very core, about learning. You learn to play the game, and to solve the challenges of the game. Learning is not added to a game, but an inherent part of playing. It makes sense to learn, players want to learn and continuously take part in what is essentially challenge based learning.

We can recommend you to read the book What video games have to teach us about learning... by James Paul Gee (look under the menu Knowledge and inspiration for more details)

We can also recommend you to read this paper - a paper produced for the project Scandinavian Game developer